Course Objectives

Throughout our study of 20th and 21st : century genocides we will:

 
1. Examine the nature of evil and its impact on perpetrators, collaborators, victims, bystanders, upstanders, and rescuers.
2. Examine and understand the psychological, sociological, cultural, and/or political roots of evil, human cruelty, mass violence, and genocide.
3. Examine the role of the bystander on the perpetration of violence in its many forms.
4. Examine the role of technology in mass violence and genocide
5. Examine the legal, moral, and personal responsibility for mass murder.
6. Understand what is means to be a responsible citizen and that democratic principles and values must be protected and nurtured.
7. Determine what preventative measures one can take individually or collectively to prevent cruelty, mass violence, and/or genocide.
8. Honor the memory of the millions of innocent people who were murdered in genocides
9. Honor the resisters and rescuers who risked their lives to save others.